32401
by RaccoonEyedNerd
Summary: A story about time, memories and a broken leg. Mitchsen.


_Once upon a time, there was a pirate; this pirate found a treasure, a treasure so ephemeral and beautiful that didn't even noticed when it disappeared from his grasp, like sand between the pirate's fingers._

 _The pirate searched all over the world for her treasure, in every sea, in every continent, through every wind. Why did she searched so stubbornly for a treasure she only touched for a mere instant? Why it was so beautiful for her? Why the sand, sea and wind took her only happiness away?_

 **"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."**

-Albert Einstein

 _"You want to know why it's so hard? It's because we, human beings, we are used to be above everything else in the world. But we are all made of glass, all of us… We can all be shattered so easily it's almost funny, ironic indeed, but funny; There are people who were shattered really young, you can see their cracks but they hold up and don't fall down, yes, they seem to be perfect but you can see the cracks, and if you stick a nail on them you can easily broke them; There are people who are like a perfect piece of glass, so shiny and clear and they take that for granted… But then something happens and they fall off and break completely, no cracks, they just stop existing."_

 _"I'm not getting this…"_

 _"What kind of glass are you?"_

 _"What?"_

 _"Answer me…"_

 _"I guess I'm the cracked one."_

 _Both of them stood in the middle of the white room in silence, weighting their thoughts before turning them into words. The taller one sighed and rested her head in her hands, the other one just stood by the wall, a marker on her hand as she kept making doodles and writing things without an evident sense._

 _"You know, you should write that one over there."_

 _"I don't want to, and even if you make me do it, I'll erase it as soon as you go."_

 _"Hey… Hey, I don't mean…"_

 _"No, I don't want to-"_

 _"I'M DYING OKAY!"_

 _The girl shut her mouth and stood there, frozen, not wanting to turn and look at the taller one… She couldn't, she wouldn't be able to handle the look on her face._

 _"I just don't want to be the clear piece of glass that becomes nothing… I don't want to be just a name in a death certificate, a mere fallen leaf in autumn."_

 _The girl just stood there, silent until the taller one stood up from the chair and left the room without even saying goodbye, without saying anything at all. A few hours later, the shorter girl chocked a sob and started writing on the wall, praying to the gods and asking them to take the pain away._

 _A few hours later, she got what she wanted… The pain dissapeared, just as everything else._

Beca grunted and huffed at herself while waiting at the hospital lobby, she was feeling genuinely uncomfortable because of her ankle but the shame of her injure was worse than the pain itself. Being a track and field runner in high school was the only way she could get through the whole madness the school meant, and maybe now she couldn't be able to run anymore. The blame was all on one of her teammates, Dylan wasn't careful enough during the relay race and just stepped on her leg while passing the baton... Or maybe she just wanted to get Beca out of the way, it didn't matter anymore because her ankle hurt like hell and her coach probably wouldn't let her run for a while. Fuck life.

Even though her grades were decent, Beca was certain that the team would've been her golden ticket to college, but everything looked distant now that she was injured, and severely if the bruising and pain was any signal of that. She covered her face with her favorite blue scarf and gave another huff, why the nurses took so long? It was a goddamn hospital for god's sake. She was brought to the hospital by one of her teammates, Stacie, and two of her friends, Chloe and Amy. The three of them trying to pick up a chat between them but the worry about their friend was enough to keep them silent, just a few "how are you feeling?" Here and there. They knew she dreaded the possibility of not being able to play again but they didn't said it out loud, because that would make everything too real.

Beca wasn't usually that grumpy, but that was the way she was used to hide her fears, she took the scarf from her head and looked at her leg, praying for it to be just a sprain with a deep frown in her face, what would she do if she couldn't be allowed to run again? What would her father say? She wouldn't have another chance for the scholarship.

"Do you guys think it's broken?" She asked after sighing, getting the attention from the other three girls while she played with the hem of her grey hoodie,

"Does it hurt that bad?" Stacie asked and Beca just shrugged

"You'll be fine Becs, I bet it's just a sprain or something like that... you don't need to worry." Chloe sighed and everyone just nodded in agreement. "I already called your mom and told her that we would take you home, and Alex is sick, so she can't get out from the house without making her condition worse".

When the nurses and the doctor came for her, Beca was already raging because of the increasing pain, but she wouldn't let everyone know, that wasn't her thing anyway; she didn't like to show her feelings too much, especially when those feelings could be easily confused with weakness by her fellow schoolmates. An hour later she got her diagnose,

A goddamn sprained ankle and muscle injures, and she wouldn't be able to run for about three or four weeks.

Stacie scratched her neck uncomfortably while looking at Beca in a wheel chair, arms crossed and a soft smile on her face, an expression of resignation,

"Ya' know, it'll be just fine, you'll be back as soon as possible and we will kick some asses in Colorado again." Stacie said and the other girls smiled reassuringly, Beca nodded but her eyes where empty, she had went to another place because she didn't want to feel disappointment, rage… Or anything at all. The brunette eyes traveled from the hallway to her leg and back again and then she started to push the wheel chair, wanting to get out of the hospital as soon as possible.

"Just wait with Stacie in the lobby, I'll go to the reception with Amy to get you papers and stuff, okay?"

Beca just nodded and kept going, Stacie following her until she suddenly stopped, her voice weak and full of vulnerability,

"She will kick me out from the team, isn't it?" Stacie just sighed and adjusted her bag on her back, not wanting to look at her best friend's eyes just yet, because she wasn't even sure anymore. Yes they were in the middle of the interstate events, and yes Dylan had taken Beca's place in the team, but saying it out loud would break her friend's heart, and none of the girls was ready for that, not again.

"We don't know, maybe it isn't so bad… The team can't make it without you and coach knows that so I don't think she would kick you out. Heck, over my dead body I would let another girl take your place, if it was my decision you would run with that wheel chair and you would keep being the star." Stacie assured and Beca shook her head smiling weakly, she knew her friend was trying to make her feel better, but she wouldn't let her know that. Beca was a big girl, and big girls didn't cry over sports stuff.

When they got to the lobby and Stacie was pushing Beca's chair after insisting on do so, the brunette found herself staring at something, or rather, someone; a girl with golden hair was sitting on the second row of chairs facing the front door, she was wearing a green scarf and an oversized sand colored sweater,

"I guess we aren't the only ones boring our asses in here…" Stacie said and Beca started moving her wheel chair again, going on the girl's direction and leaving a very confused Stacie behind her. When she got close enough, she noticed the hand watch in the girl's hand; it was a black one and the pale hands of the girl were holding it like it was a life line.

"Hey" Beca said softly when she got her wheel chair close enough to the girl, and she met a pair of very confused but beautiful green eyes looking at her, her leg and back to the front door again. She didn't said anything and Stacie wanted to laugh when she saw the expression on Beca's face after she got ignored, so, to the tall girl's amusement, she tried again.

"Hello there, I bet you have been waiting a lot too… It seems like the E.R. is full today so there's no many nurses and doctors in here." She said a little bit louder and Stacie waited for the green eyed girl reaction, but she kept looking at the hand watch, and the lobby entrance watch like she was waiting for something to happen. Beca sighed and looked at Stacie, who was about to burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just thought it was amusing, I guess you don't have so much game anymore Becs."

"Shut up Stacie."

"You shut up, you love me."

"You wish."

"You do love me, don't even try to deny it."

"Yes, I do, are you happy now?"

"Ecstatic." Stacie finished and Beca kicked her knee with her good leg, making her laugh.

Before they kept arguing, the other two girls joined them, ready to get the brunette back to her home, Chloe handled Beca her pain killer prescription and Stacie didn't lose a second before she started making jokes about her trying to get the green eyed girl's attention but failing miserably,

"I swear guys, if she hears something I'll stick my leg up on your butts, got it?"

"Roger that." Amy said and Chloe winked at her before checking the hour on her phone

"Okay guys it's going to be three o' clock so… we better be going or Beca's mom will be worried." The older one said and everyone got ready to leave, except for Beca, who was staring at the girl again; she was looking at the entrance clock. It was marking 14:59, and curiosity took over the brunette, making her do a third and final attempt to get the girl's attention.

"Time goes flying huh?" She asked and green eyes met navy blue ones, the expression no longer denoting confusion but genuine agreement, she nodded and Beca smiled widely, she didn't even care that she didn't smiled back.

"Yes, it does." The brunette purposely ignored her friend's attempts to get her attention and kept her eyes on the green ones in front of her, she swore she saw a glint of golden in them. Stacie came for her again, and the girl with the clock just got up and left the lobby, leaving a very confused Beca behind her.

"We gotta go Beca." The taller girl said before wheeling the brunette to the exit, Amy and Chloe already ahead of them, getting into the car.

"MISS! Wait a second." A nurse came for them and held both of Beca's hands "Would you please come back tomorrow? Please." Stacie frowned and the brunette just got more confused.

"Why?" Beca asked and the nurse just smiled softly

"The girl on the lobby, you talked to her right?"

"Barely." Stacie said jokingly and Beca let out a huff

"That's exactly my point, she... She never talked to anyone since she got here, two years ago"

Both teenagers stood there silent when they heard that and the nurse kept looking at Beca, waiting for an answer. The brunette just nodded slowly and the young nurse smiled widely, letting her know that she had to be in the same place, at the same hour the next day; she said it was extremely important for the girl and kept repeating to them that she was thankful for Beca getting the girl to talk, even when the girl herself didn't know how she managed to do so.

A few minutes (and a boring speech about security coming from Chloe) later, Beca was back in her home with her mother, father and sister. The Holden family was really something, always cheerful even when everything else was against them; her adoptive father, Johannes Holden, was a fireman since the age of twenty-one and an authentic hero for Beca, always willing to help people and daily risking his life to do so. Her adoptive mother, Elise Holden, was an artist, always painting and sharing her talent and passion with everyone around her. Beca loved to be around her at home because of her peaceful aura. And then there was Alex, an important part of the family even if nobody else considered her as one, a strong-willed girl that didn't let anyone get her down, a "strong badass", like Stacie loved to say. She was in bed when Beca got home because of a cold she had caught somewhere, obviously her mother had to take care of her when Beca got admited to the hospital and when they both saw her leg on a cast, they understood the sad mood on the young runner even when she was smiling softly. Neither of her parents could afford college so Beca was trying to get a full sports scholarship, but it would be difficult to achieve if she didn't play; she felt like everything was crumbling down.

Stacie and Chloe explained the whole incident to her mother and she didn't know how to talk about the issue without getting her feeling worse about it; she knew her daughter, she knew that Beca was holding everything in, she wouldn't let her sadness nor her rage show and would hide everything behind a smile instead.

She laid on her bed the rest of the evening, looking to the roof and thinking about a way to successfully replace her leg for a cyborg-ish one to be able to run in the next event; it didn't matter how stupid it sounded, she needed a way to be back in the team if she wanted to get the goddamn scholarship, and fast.

"Hey champ, how are you doing?" Her dad's voice brought her back from her deep thoughts,

"I guess mom told you about it... So there's not too much to talk about." She answered with a small smile.

"But I wanna hear it from you little champ."

"I messed up everything Papa bear, I won't be able to run for weeks and the semi-finals are coming... The scholarship, everything..." Beca couldn't say anything else and a single tear run down her cheek, stopped by her dad's thumb.

"Hush, little champ, you didn't do anything wrong. You'll be back before you even notice, you'll go to the doctor, to the therapist and your ankle will be healed really soon... And about the scholarship, don't worry about it yet, just focus on your well-being, okay?"

"Okay papa bear."

"Good." He finished ruffling her hair to make her smile, not really caring about the scholarship; her daughter was more important.

Beca didn't left her room in the whole evening, she felt emotionally drained and her thoughts didn't seemed to stop wandering around her hospital experience. Her mind eventually drifted to the green eyed girl in the lobby and the nurse's request. She started wondering about her, How long had she really been in there? And even more important... What kind of sickness afflicted her? The nurse said she didn't talk, was she deaf? Maybe just mute? Or it was something like a trauma? She shuddered at the thought of that girl on the psychiatric ward in that hospital. She'd been there before and she swore she never would go close to that place again.


End file.
